Alisha

Job: Saleswoman for Spices 'N More in Sanford. Hired: July. What she does: A little bit of everything, including helping with sales to grocery stores across the nation. A part-time sales job is perfect for Alisha Farias, who wants to spend as much time as possible with her 3-year-old son. "It offers a lot of flexibility," Farias said of her work for Spices 'N More, a wholesaler in Sanford. "It's giving me the money I need to survive." She's going to school now for cosmetology and hopes to be finished by next year.

LEESBURG -- With a father who once coached there and older sister who once played there, it might have seemed as though Leesburg volleyball player Alisha Hoffman was destined to play at Lake-Sumter Community College. But Hoffman said the thought didn't enter her mind until recently. "Actually, until this year, I hadn't even thought about going to LSCC," Hoffman said Tuesday after signing a volleyball grant with the Lakers. "But things changed with a new coach [Lisa Huntley]. I wanted to be a part of a winning program, and Lake-Sumter is building a good winning program."

LEESBURG -- With a father who once coached there and older sister who once played there, it might have seemed as though Leesburg volleyball player Alisha Hoffman was destined to play at Lake-Sumter Community College. But Hoffman said the thought didn't enter her mind until recently. "Actually, until this year, I hadn't even thought about going to LSCC," Hoffman said Tuesday after signing a volleyball grant with the Lakers. "But things changed with a new coach [Lisa Huntley]. I wanted to be a part of a winning program, and Lake-Sumter is building a good winning program."

TALLAHASSEE -- When Robert C. Cohen of Longwood was abducted and killed in Costa Rica two years ago, his family didn't know where to turn. Cohen, a certified public accountant and developer, was the primary breadwinner in the family, so his wife and daughter were forced to ask relatives to help them pay the more than $18,000 in funeral costs. If Cohen had been killed in the United States, his family would have been able to tap into money through the state's Crime Victim Compensation Program.

MOUNT DORA - Alisha Kornegay hasn't started her college career, but she already has learned a lesson in flexibility.Kornegay, a Mount Dora Bible senior point guard, made a trip to south Florida late last year with the intention of visiting Lynn University, an NCAA Division II school in Boca Raton, and playing basketball there.When it became obvious that the Knights wanted her to play, but they weren't going to offer her a basketball grant, Kornegay and her parents made a quick change of plans.

JEFFREY MICHAEL COHEN, 18, 625 Chelsea Road, Longwood, died Saturday. Born in Orlando, he moved to Longwood from Rochester, N.Y., in 1970. He was a student at Lake Mary High School. He was a member of Congregation Ohev Shalom. Survivors: parents, Robert and Susan; sister, Alisha, Gainesville; maternal grandmother, Tillie Coplon, Longwood; paternal grandparents, Herman and Della, Longwood. Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, Orlando.

TALLAHASSEE -- When Robert C. Cohen of Longwood was abducted and killed in Costa Rica two years ago, his family didn't know where to turn. Cohen, a certified public accountant and developer, was the primary breadwinner in the family, so his wife and daughter were forced to ask relatives to help them pay the more than $18,000 in funeral costs. If Cohen had been killed in the United States, his family would have been able to tap into money through the state's Crime Victim Compensation Program.

Job: Saleswoman for Spices 'N More in Sanford. Hired: July. What she does: A little bit of everything, including helping with sales to grocery stores across the nation. A part-time sales job is perfect for Alisha Farias, who wants to spend as much time as possible with her 3-year-old son. "It offers a lot of flexibility," Farias said of her work for Spices 'N More, a wholesaler in Sanford. "It's giving me the money I need to survive." She's going to school now for cosmetology and hopes to be finished by next year.

MILTON -- While his amputated legs were still healing, Army Staff Sgt. Dustin Tuller told his doctors he would be home by Father's Day, surrounded by his four young children. Doctors at the military hospital in Washington told him that was impossible. Tuller, who lost his legs in a shooting attack in Baghdad two days before Christmas, would never be fit enough by then, they told him. On Saturday, the 28-year-old infantryman stood on prosthetic legs in front of cheering well-wishers who lined the streets in this small town near Pensacola to welcome him home.

The nonprofit Yalaha Foundation will present The Harmonic Concordance from 6 p.m. Nov. 7 through 2 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Yalaha Country Bakery, 8210 County Road 48. The event will include speakers, music, artist displays, vendors, exhibits and meditative moments. Cost range from $25 for a half-day pass with one meal Nov. 8 to $75, which includes all events and six meals. Details or tickets: 352-324-0500 or batesreed@yalahafoundation.org. CULTURAL ARTS PROGRAM The Leesburg Recreation and Parks Department is offering three cultural arts programs for children and families.

A 10-year-old Lake County girl rested safely in an Orlando hospital bed Monday, miles from the spot on the Withlacoochee River in Sumter County where an alligator almost dragged her to her death over the weekend. "Daddy, a gator's got me," Megan Roe of Leesburg remembered saying after the alligator first latched onto her leg and before her father and brother fought off the 11-foot reptile and pulled her to shore. Megan was in stable condition after doctors at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Women & Children took her out of intensive care Monday.

When Christopher Essex moved his family to the suburbs from a Chicago public housing development, he didn't have any crazy delusions about finding bliss outside the city limits.''What you see on TV, the Cosby kids - how many black, perfect families are there going to be?'' Essex said.What he was hoping for, more than anything else, was the absence of the bad parts.No more guns, gangs, drugs. Not to be hit with the smell of urine when he walked into the lobby of his apartment building. A shot at a decent job.It took two bus rides plus 43 minutes on the train to get to Mount Prospect.

SUMMERFIELD -- A blaze that roared through a mobile home owned by a longtime Leesburg city employee claimed the life of an elderly woman and injured her granddaughter. Troy Adkins, a public-works employee for years, was awakened Wednesday morning by his fiancee's 14-year-old daughter, Kellyce Bookwalter, who heard a smoke-detector alarm at 1:45 a.m. She was trying to find her grandmother, Mary Carlson, 70, when she shouted for Adkins to help. Carlson had fallen asleep in the living room.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Michelle Snow had 18 points and seven rebounds as the No.2 Tennessee women's basketball team held off a late Kentucky charge to win 71-65 on Sunday. The Vols rebounded from their worst-ever Southeastern Conference loss, a 27-point defeat Monday at No.7 Georgia. Tennessee led by as many as 20 but watched Kentucky close to within two in the final seconds. Lennox leads Louisiana Tech BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Betty Lennox matched her career-high with 31 points, and Ayana Walker added 16 points and 12 rebounds as No.3 Louisiana Tech defeated Western Kentucky 85-61.